A Visit to the Potter's Shed

Joe Winter is a potter who lives a half mile north of us on the same dirt road - he made the big pot that's in the hall that GD Lexie is finally taller than - bad sentence. He and Ian had been emailing each other and set up a studio visit for all of us on Sunday morning. He offered to demo throwing a pot.
And now that little lump has been formed into a tube. GS Logan was completely captivated and I do believe this will be one of those defining moments that he looks back on.





You can see the shape begin to change and bow in the middle. Logan is nine and Joe told us he started throwing pots when he was eleven.






The piece has taken on the form of a vase and Joe is explaining to Elise how he shaped it.

Joe put a fan on this vase to get it partly dry in order to form it into a flounder shape with the use of paddles. That's his name for the shape. I've been calling it blowfish, but it's the wrong swimmer. We have one of these pots - and more.

The final steps are a matter of smoothing and shaping - from round to flat. His shaping tools are all remnants and really unremarkable - it's his skill that make indelible shapes. He entertained all questions, no matter how mundane.
Joe planned our visit to coincide with some raku firing. One minute he was throwing a pot, the next we raced us out the back door because it was time to pull a pot from the kiln.
He established a safe zone for us because this kiln fires at 2,000 degrees and you can feel it. This pot glows orange because it is so superheated. The material in the kiln is good up to 2,700 degrees and I know this because one pot fell over and collected some of the lining material. He said he would sand it off and apply another finish.


We all gasped and aahed when he plucked this pot from the kiln.


From the kiln it goes into this trash can. In the can to the left you can see strips of news-
paper. Joe tossed in handfuls of the paper and popped the lid back on to produce the flames you see. This step draws the mineral in the glaze to the surface.
And cooled, here's that same pot. I am always astonished at Joe's magic. For him it's all in a days work.


This is Joe's MFA thesis equivalent. He said it took more time to build this than his house. He threw the pot up to near the top and then built the rest. He said that when this was dried as greenware, he laid it on the ground and smashed it. Every piece was labeled on the back, glazed, fired and then reassembled. I've seen him build big. He throws in pieces and then seams. I love to watch him work. If you come visit me, I promise you a visit to his studio.

Sissy's Riding Lesson

Our grand-
daughter Elise has been taking riding lessons in Redding, where they live. Ian had arranged for her to get a lesson on Saturday, but DD Margi got caught in Burning Man traffic and arrived at the same time as the tear-drop trailer. Since I can't back up a trailer, I was elected to take Sissy to her riding lesson.
Because we were late, the scheduled teacher had to take her son to his football game. The lesson would be with Lynn Lloyd, hunt master and rancher, but we'd have to wait a bit. There is plenty of entertainment as Sissy and DIL Missy discovered.
Missy was stunned to realize that many of the horses are bigger than she is, and there are many horses. Sissy will be riding Stanley, an old swayback horse that still works and earns his keep.
Sis will be riding English and learning to post in this lesson. Lynn wraps Sissy's legs to prevent chafing and irritation from the up-and-down motion during posting. Take a look at this tack room!
Elise is only 10-years old and has only been riding in an arena and for a matter of months. As the time came close for her mount, apprehension was written all over her face. I wasn't worried. My now retired dentist used to bring her girls out here for riding lessons.
Lynn handed Sis off to Missy to lead out while she got her own horse ready. I think she looks great in the saddle - an absolute natural. And I apologize for this being a longer post than usual, but I am just so proud of the way Elise handled herself.
And off they ride into the sunset - well, not quite. They ride off into the desert for an hour-long trail ride - just Lynn and Sissy. She was excited, tense, scare and excited - and trusting.
An hour later, they're back and Sis is grinning from ear to ear. I hope you can see it. Stanley's head got in the way her head as she went by me, so I only have the image of her happy face in my memory. She did great and she loves Lynn - wants to come back for a week of horse camp.


Two hours later we arrived back at the camp, just in time for the horseshoes tournament. They had already played one round so we had to play two, back to back. Two hours later.....

The 3rd Annual Gathering

This is the Sparking Boy campus over Labor Day weekend. Ian and I are just about done getting cleaned up after five days of guests. I think the dogs will be traumatized for longer than that. Ian took down the last tent today. We had about 30 people at night, plus neighbors and various and sundry dogs.

Our first guest arrived Thursday, Ian's friend from way back in com-
munity college. He's retired and has taken up claw hammer banjo, following the music festivals. He chose us over Strawberry this year! Friday afternoon, we had equestrian guests, much to the delight of our grandchildren.
Audrey is riding with Belle who is so tiny that her feet don't even reach the horse's belly. Rogan rode alone on Mercedes but the wind was blowing most of the time so he rode with one hand and hung onto his hat with other. That's Carol who says that riding Mercedes is like riding a sofa.
And, dismount. Belle is so teeny and so confident. Audrey rode Mercedes over last year by herself. Belle's grandmother came over first and opened the gate for the kids - they were an even bigger hit this year.
Since we're fenced, the kids just released their horses and went to play with our grandkids. As you can see, our gate is to the left. Those late arrivals were in for quite the surprise.



Um, look. There's a horse running down the fire break.




Um, look. There's a Forester with a tear drop trailer running down the fire break, flanked by niece Allison and Uncle Ian. We had so much family and so much fun. In truth, for me it started at the airport where I met my grandson and his parents. The Gathering was so full that I have to post it in pieces - sorry. It's my bedtime - to be continued.

Grandsons in Sports

I wasn't able to go to the fair last Saturday and see the handspun/
hand-
woven judging because all three of our grandsons had games. None overlapped, so we were able to see them all. This is five-year-old Evan's team in the blue, the Sea Monsters. They only field three on a team, which makes so much more than sense, but even so they end up kicking each other's shin guards.

The games are mercifully only 30 minutes long and this is a half-time carbo-loading break with Ritz crackers.


Then we were off to 10-year-
old Kiernan's football game, where there were as many cheer-
leaders as ball players. The Sierra Youth Football League is attached to high schools as a kind of feeder program, so this is Wooster High School and Kiernan's team are the Colt Freshmen.
It's super hot and Kiernan (#38) is clearly not having the time of his life. We are all sitting under umbrellas in an attempt to dodge the heat.

Lexie Lu has a bag of grapes and cherries which she has graciously offered to share with me. She started kindergarten on Monday
.
After a quick lunch at In-n-Out Burger, the only fast food I will eat and the first time this year, we moved on to 9-year-old Logan's soccer game. His team are the Green Virus. I don't know - I didn't ask.
Logan absolutely loves this game, and I have to say that it's a heck of a lot easier and more comfortable to watch than the American form of the sport.
We left here at 8:45 and got home at 3:30. The weather couldn't have been better, and we got to spend relaxed, easy time with our families. It was almost like a holiday but without the presents.

Mini Spin-In

Mim's husband Bob is a gardener and it shows. I love their place. Their end of the valley is at a higher elevation and they are on the side of Peterson Mountain, which means the sun sets earlier for them. Whatever the reasons, it's lovely.
He plants his tomatoes in black pots and then stakes them. He says the black pots help to heat the roots. I don't know about that but I can't argue with success. I came home with two handfuls of these delightful red orbs. They don't have problems with rodents eating the fruit- they have Jo Beth, the Jack Russell Terrorist.
If Bob ever needs a referral for a potential client, he need only show them his own yard. It's like a park. It was on Mim's deck in May 2001 that I fell in love with this valley.
I told Mim that after I retired, I was going to come over one day to spin with her on the deck. This is the first time that I've finally done it and I don't want it to be so long before I do it again. You can see Jo Beth behind the blue bag. She's never far from Mim. Becky stayed over one more day after the fair so that we all could spend some time together. We would have had more time if I hadn't had that dental appointment.
This is our view from the deck. You can see why I fell in love. Jake is on guard.






And this is what I brought home from the fair. Charlie likes it.

Sparking Boy

My pink and lavendar roving turned out darker and more lavender than I had expected. I was able to get it spun up while demonstrating at the fair a couple of days ago. That day was so hot and dusty and so authentic Nevada.
I didn't get to go back to the fair today for the closing events, but will toss my wheel into the car because after my early morning dental appointment tomorrow, I'll come back from town and go to Mim's to spend some time spinning on her deck with Becky before she has to go back to Battle Mountain. This is what I will be spinning. I am so looking to being with them, just visiting and spinning - so rich.
I wasn't able to go the fair because DS Josh was bringing out his 5th wheel to set it up for next weekend, the 3rd annual Gathering. That's what Ian calls it, but friend Kris quipped last year that we should call it Sparking Boy - a nod to Burning Man, also in the Nevada high desert this weekend. Come on out!

Josh apologized that they would have been out earlier, but they sold their house this morning, two days after listing it. They are Bend, Oregon bound. His new position as FedEx termimal manager starts - tomorrow. It just makes it all the more important for our family to identify how we can connect and collect.

Nevada State Fair

I've been at the fair all day but only took a couple of pictures. I think our guild is unique in that it covers such a large geographic area, yet we all drive in because we value our craft and our friendships. Ian and I drive an hour to get to Reno, yet Eileen, on the left, lives off-grid northwest of us in the Sierras. Carolyn used to drive in from Lake Tahoe but this year is now in Reno. I like to think we moved for us. Eileen is spinning wolf for the Animal Ark as a charitable contribution. They make the yarn into bracelets to sell as fundraisers.

Mim and Becky are both full-time shepherds and good friends, yet Becky lives in Battle Mountain, which is just about in the center of Nevada, half way between Elko and Reno. She's staying with Mim, my "neighbor," and is staying an extra night so we can have some grrl time Monday morning before she has to drive home.

Our guild's commitment has been to promote the fiber arts. Many of the homeschooling families that came through today were interested in the Waldorf School concept of teaching knitting as math readiness, and by extension, were interested in teaching their children the whole process.
I think our best fiber arts convert was Terry. He lives in Tohopah, which is just about half way in between Las Vegas and Reno and has been raised by his grandparents since he was born. He's in 4H and is at the fair with his pig and chickens., but he fell in love with weaving. He got it. He even understood how to change the treadling to change the cloth. Needless to say, he wove the sample off. Sue is going to put another warp on tomorrow for Terry so he can keep going. The good news is that his grandparents have a family member's loom at home and are going to get it going so Terry can keep going. I was tired, hot, gritty and thirsty when I got tonight, but I couldn't stop thinking about the smile on Terry's face. His grandparents were so appreciate and kept thanking us, but really - it was Terry.

Finished

DIL Missy and I got together last Friday for our third and final scrap-
booking session. She's a teacher and is back in the saddle this week. She has been a scrapper for 10 years and taught me a lot. All the stuff in the foreground was loaned to me by a friend. It's not a cheap hobby but my kids have really responded positively to my first album.
Missy is working on sports albums, recording the boys games, team members, scores and friend-
ships. She helped me thread my way to through the bewildering and expensive paraphernalia and select just the things that I need. Those three Fridays were so rich, because I got to spend time with my young grandsons as well. Periodically they'd come to the table to draw or work on their own books. I'm going to miss then when they move to Bend, Oregon. Josh's job as FedEx terminal manager starts on the 1st - next week! Missy and the boys won't be able to follow for another three months. Yipes.
My first album is finished! It's a record of the trip that DS Josh, DD Chris and I took to Germany in 1995. It was during Desert Storm and SIL Mike was in Bahrain. When they got orders to return stateside, I realized it was now or never. If we didn't go, we never would. Josh and I flew over in March - it's just plain cold in Germany in March. Many mornings found us scraping the car windows with credit cards.

I had 11 days of annual leave available and used it all. Our flight was 16 hours long to Frankfort so we really only nine days in Germany. Chrissie took us right from the airport to our first castle at Heidelberg. I kept a journal so was able to note what we were doing for all the photos, but the magnetic album they were in leached the colors terribly. Our albums get pulled out at family events and Missy was one who recognized what was happening.

We drove Chrissie's Geo Storm through as much of Bavaria as we could, staying in youth hostels at night - Bavaria by Storm. We saw as much as we could in the time we had until they were just as exhausted as I was. We joked that we castle-hopped until we dropped.
It took me three shots to get all of Ulm Cathedral and we walked all 768 steps to the top. That was almost 15 years ago and I'm so glad I have the notes because I certainly wouldn't remember that otherwise.

Photo albums are important to our family. I'm horrible about printing out photos - I'm not sure I've printed any in the last five years - but it's albums that my family gather round, joking and reminiscing. I know I'm retired and I already have too many hobbies - certainly didn't see this one coming.

Meanwhile, I've extracted all the photos from the rest of the magnetic photo albums, storing them in a photo box until I can get to them. Sometimes it required slicing the pictures from the pages with dental floss. A word of warning to those of you who think your photos are safely stored in albums - if they're in magnetic albums, they're not safe. It's about keeping those precious images in an acid environment, and there's where the expense begins.